Paedophile Robert Edwin Collins abused girl for eight years ‘for fun’

A PAEDOPHILE who dismissed eight years of abuse on a young girl as “just a bit of fun” has been jailed for 12 years by a District Court judge.

Robert Edwin Collins was found guilty by a jury of the persistent sexual abuse of a girl from when she was six years old in the 1980s.

Judge Boylan said Collins was dismissive of the victim when she eventually confronted him several years ago – telling the woman the abuse was `just a bit of fun’

“Your answer to her on that occasion sums up the way you treated her – as a toy to be played with at your whim,” Judge Boylan said.

“Others in the community who are minded to treat children as you have done must know that they will be dealt with sternly.”

Collins, 61, was brought from custody to the court in a wheelchair, with his lawyer asking for a merciful sentence because of numerous physical ailments including morbid obesity and arthritis.

Collins, who was forced to retire as an inspector for Adelaide City Council several years ago because of a hip disability, sat silently in the dock dressed in blue prison clothes.

Judge Boylan said Collins had shown no remorse or insight into the harm he had caused his victim, who continued to suffer depression and poor health as a consequence of the years of abuse.

He sentenced Collins to 12 years imprisonment and imposed a non-parole period of six years, taking into account that the paedophile would spend his sentence inside a health facility within the prison system.